"The Discovery of the Future" is a philosophical lecture by H. G. Wells first delivered to the Royal Institution on January 24, 1902. Within it, Wells explores the 'knowability' of the future and the question of what is to come after man. This fascinating and thought-provoking lecture constitutes a must-read for fans of Wells' work, and it would make for a worthy addition collections of allied literature. Herbert George Wells (1866 - 1946) was a prolific English writer who wrote in a variety of genres, including the novel, politics, history, and social commentary. Today, he is perhaps best remembered for his contributions to the science fiction genre thanks to such novels as "The Time Machine" (1895), "The Invisible Man" (1897), and "The War of the Worlds" (1898). Although never a winner, Wells was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature a total of four times. Many vintage books such as this are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. We are republishing this book now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with a specially commissioned new biography of the author.

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

In The Discovery of the Future, a lecture delivered to the Royal Institution in 1902, H. G. Wells examines two divergent and, in his opinion, incompatible types of mind. His appeal for future-mindedness is a request that is aimed to create a collective vision of the future, which is oriented towards the advancement of humanity.

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H. G. Wells (1866_1946) was a literary lion throughout his career, publishing more than one hundred books, including classics such as War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man, and The Time Machine. Though best remembered for his science fiction, Wells was also a prolific sketcher who frequently enlivened his correspondence and marginalia with cartoons. Those drawings made for his companion Amy Catherine Robbins, which he called "picshuas," allowed him a vehicle for his nuanced self-expression and satire. Gene K. Rinkel and Margaret E. Rinkel's The Picshuas of H. G. Wells interprets these highly original cartoons through an analysis of their peculiar content and style based on Wells's life and writings. The picshuas are perhaps the best demonstration of Wells's piquant sense of humor. They provide intriguing snapshots of Wells's robust private life and convey his opinions about other writers and public figures as well as himself, whose rotund cartoon figure he sometimes lampooned as "the Great Author." Using a narrative style of creative nonfiction, The Picshuas of H. G. Wells weaves facts from Wells's life with incidents reflected in the cartoons, episodes drawn from his novels, and scenes from other writings to provide glimpses into his moments of his personal and professional conflict and triumph. There emerges a fascinating and funny portrait of a complex literary personality and his complicated relationship with a devoted collaborator, his wife. Some forty picshuas were published in Wells's Experiment in Autobiography, but the wide range of the pichsuas throughout his correspondence and private papers has never been surveyed and published until now. As an ensemble, they provide close look at the Great Author in his most joyous and uninhibited moments, laughing at himself and the world.

The period between 1867 and 1914 remains the greatest watershed in human history since the emergence of settled agricultural societies: the time when an expansive civilization based on synergy of fuels, science, and technical innovation was born. At its beginnings in the 1870s were dynamite, the telephone, photographic film, and the first light bulbs. Its peak decade - the astonishing 1880s - brought electricity - generating plants, electric motors, steam turbines, the gramophone, cars, aluminum production, air-filled rubber tires, and prestressed concrete. And its post-1900 period saw the first airplanes, tractors, radio signals and plastics, neon lights and assembly line production. This book is a systematic interdisciplinary account of the history of this outpouring of European and American intellect and of its truly epochal consequences. It takes a close look at four fundamental classes of these epoch-making innovations: formation, diffusion, and standardization of electric systems; invention and rapid adoption of internal combustion engines; the unprecedented pace of new chemical syntheses and material substitutions; and the birth of a new information age. These chapters are followed by an evaluation of the lasting impact these advances had on the 20th century, that is, the creation of high-energy societies engaged in mass production aimed at improving standards of living.